River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-06-30
REBEL MAILcAPTURE.

burg. Porter. with his fleet, was ou ID,
Mississippi aboy, Virk-hurg. while ia,
brave old FJrragut. with his force
was below Port Hudson, ever ready "a
cooperate with the army. The long
stretch IF the river between Nick~hurg
and Port Hudson was "a constant source
OF trouble and ,eN5tiou. offering every
ftcfIit, fur I'll. enemy - convey supplies
ami men Ia aud fro. Il was necessary
- hr, up the system, aud it wa, the
intention Of Farragut Ia ran hy the
batteries of Port Hudson in order to cut
oft the rebel communications. His
fore consisted If thu, Hartford. NIi>-i---
ipoi. Richmood- MonougaheIa. thc iron
clad ESSEX. tine Grnc~re, Kiueo. Al
batross and tire S,,chem. The
tennessee Kiucp auJ AIbatru~- were
sunboat- ami th, Sacbcm a light
drau-ht steamer The Hartford. Rich
moud AMI Mnuoug1hcla had "ich "a
boat dashed To- the port quarter. 80 a. 10
render assistance should Il o. necessary.
The Mississippi helm. ~ii,'-wheel YES
81 was left 10 her own resources. The
Hartford took the Alfa,ro--. and 1s my
story deals with these two vessels priu-
cipally. / VIII couliuc myself a. much a.
possible % their movements
Previous To- running the batteries. "a
SosguE volunteer lieutenant had applied
Ia the Admiral for permission to take
passage ~ the t,ag ship for the purpose
If satisfying his curiosity 10 witnessing
a naval engagement EarraSut -rimIy
l~~euted, granting leave al-u tn some
newspaper carr,~poud, who applied
at the last moment. Tie Admiral had
hi som with him also. who 1t the timr
wa~ quite "a ltj IT WIS ihe night Of
the lith IF March. and u- -uuu a. 10
was lark th,. -tuIpai, 'rrk ur their
allotted places ami the final prcpart-
tiuu~ Ter the battle were mlde ID was
after III u.cjort when an were r..
motion. ami the Confederate, had lot
been idle ID ua~ about III O'Clock
when their nearest battery OPENED up
en- the Hartford the LEADING ship.
Every pr,rautipr hId brcu taken to
protect tine men. and h5rricIdc~ of
hammork- sails and sand ba-~ bad
been placed along fhc poop. around the
wheel. topgalaui foreca~tlc and I'll cN-
posed points. which with the splinter
MEETINGS. sawed many q valuable life
The Hartford passed steadily on. d.
livering her tire with terrible effect
Huge bouiirt.~ had been lit bv the en-
emy. anil no first they served well the
purpose for y hitch they were intended.
hut soon tire heavy cloud cf battle
settled over .II and the guunrr> bad
nothing tu gIi e. them hut the flashes
If the runs shot. she'll anal grape
flew through the air. while lu iucp,~iut
roJr of mu-brtrv miuglrd with ia,
deifeuin- reports Of thr heavy guns
The y0uu- army lieutenant and
newspaper ra-r,.-f nuder' were missed
from their post # observation aud iu
the height of tive action huih were
found -iawri -uayll away uudcr the
,.tpIriuu~ hsd ot tine great Admiral.
Youus FJrragut however. stood beside.
liz gallant father during e. pI~~t.-,- uf
the I.tttrt',-~ ami both g1led upon the
terrible SCENE with undivided interest
But the bursting she'll and hurting shot
proved tuu much for the nerves of Far
ravut'- son anil b.. voluntarily ducked
hi~ head several tiutc-- ~ many brave
and more experienced imam has dome
before TIE. Keen eve If the Admiral
detected the movement and paiting his
son kindly on iHc hrad -ei'l: Don't
duck. my son. there : mo- use i'm trying
to dodge God Almighty
There was i brief time IF peril % the
nld Hartford. which ! will relate. Sh"
had reached the sharp beud by the up
pet batteries ami had received some ne
Ii wounds. both l'rluw and llutt. but
Sire never WaNrrcd ur ~Wpryrd from her
caur~,. until the swift current. sweeping
around th, point SWING the frigate in
shore ami She ,iriftsd down upon the
batteries. hes hro5d~idr JthwJrt the
tide. 4 few moments served to decide
the question The AlbItru>~ wa~
~trou.ly..backc,I. while the engines of
the Hartford were driven with ali their
power ah,.ld Her bow swung slowly
but surely. She gathered head
wa amt again -tcrreI iu .he
RIGHT direction After rounding
tue point FaFragut waited for the smoke
If battle to dr.iI a. lccwar,l. but ~ the
Itmo-phvr, cleared the truth wa forced
upon him lie alone 1T ail tire fleet
h.,d succeeded ir passing the batteries
4 vivid LIGHT, evidently proceeding from
nu,. If hi vessels. excited u thr Admit
raj the livclic-t apprehension. for rs hc
g.lltd about him he realized that tire
Hartford anil - attendant guuhoat
were alone alb, We the hltIvriy~- lie
Wa shut iu hrt vcru Port Hudson and
Nick-hurc. cut II I'm both directions
from assistance arj supplies. which
ron must coaf,> was not the most
agreeable situation in the world for
great commander like Farragut. 1t Is
1t this juucturc of affairs that the AL
venture of my friend. a brother engin-
eer ON the AlbatrOS-, begins
Opposite the month If Red river. On
the east bank Of the Mississippi. was
situated the plantation If Colonel Ack-
lin. q wealthy. whole-souled pl,. inter-.
The mansion affords an uuoo~true.rd
view If the river and surrounding
country from it, commanding position
on the summit of bluff. The lawn.
green. close-shaven aud level a q
billiard table. sloped gently towards
the river. where there was a fine land
ing. Maguiicicnt trees aud foliage
surrounded the house and grounds.
wilhelm liertof fence. the spacious acres
anJ ii Ids we're divided by tall, thick,
anil carefully -trimmvd thorn hedges
To the uorthwar,l If the imposing man
sion were the ue-ro quarters. laid out
with scrtPuleu~ regularity. IN white
washed and each cabin having it, al
lotted strip Of land tor garden purposes.
Il was from this plantation that the
Hartford and AlbttruSS obtained their
fresh supplies. Milk. eggs. chickens,
corn meal. fish. etc, were regularly
furnished auJ scruPulously paid for by
the Admiral with crisp. unsullied green
backs. Every morning that the vessel
were anchored Of the plantation thu
market boats would pun into the land
ing, conveying the stewards of cabin